


A Dash of Regret and a Sprinkle of Hope

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Acceptance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone Needs A Hug, Exile, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Mid-Canon, Nervousness, One Shot, Reunions, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Self Confidence Issues, The Doctor on His Own, Third Doctor Era, change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 06:45:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11412441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Struggling with the loneliness of his exile, the Doctor searches for a former companion. He made a promise to her a long time ago, when he was a different man, and he still intends to keep it.





	A Dash of Regret and a Sprinkle of Hope

It had taken him ages to track down this address, the Doctor mused as he glanced at the slip of paper in his hand. The Brigadier had been extremely curious as to why he’d gone searching for it so intensely, but the Doctor had given him no hints. He wanted this to himself, this moment.

So he stood alone in front of the small metal gate, wondering nervously if he should step over it or open it the way everyone else did. At last he elected to step over it and made his way slowly to the front door. It was an elegant door, painted a very pale creamy color with blue curlicues woven over it. TARDIS-blue curlicues, the Doctor realized with a start. This made him inexplicably bolder, squaring his shoulders and striding right up to the door, raising a fist to knock—

And then he wavered. Was he about to make a mistake, stepping back into this? He had left her back in his first regeneration and now he was in his third. She wouldn’t even recognize him and by now she must have a stable life.

The Doctor stiffened when he heard high-pitched laughter from inside. _Children_. He should’ve known this was a bad idea; how would he explain his presence to her children? Her husband?

 _“Your future lies with David.”_ That hadn’t changed. It never would change.

No, he couldn’t. Choking on a lump in his throat, he let his arm fall back to his side and pivoted, heading back toward the little iron gate. He couldn’t dare be so emotional, he decided, hunching his shoulders and pulling his velvet cape closer around him. That’s what his Second regeneration would have done. Better to be like the First: stern and cold, completely cold with everyone—

“Excuse me!” called a familiar voice from behind, curious and kind. “Sir?”

—except Susan. The Doctor froze, his spine tingling with the Gallifreyan presence he sensed behind him.

“I happened to glance out the window and I saw you come up to the door. Is there something you wanted?”

The Doctor locked his knees to keep them from shaking as he turned back around. She was a middle-aged woman now; her hair was longer and curlier, her pixie eyes wiser, but the gentle, expectant smile she wore was just the same.

“I just wanted to say,” he blurted, “that…I’ve missed you.”

He expected her mouth to drop open, for her to take a few steps back or let her face drain of color. Instead she simply smiled wider and whispered, “I _knew_ it,” before tackling him with the same reckless abandon he remembered. Moving with the momentum, smiling so widely that his cheeks hurt, he spun her around with a great whoosh of his cape and kissed the top of her head, making her laugh in surprised delight.

“I felt it, I _knew_ it was you!” Susan repeated when he set her feet back on solid ground, refusing to pull away from him and clutching at his ruffles and coat. “But you…you were going to leave!” As that realization struck, she lifted her head, uncertainty marring the joy in her face. “You were going to leave without seeing me, Grandfather? Why?”

“My dear girl, I never doubted you for a second,” the Doctor assured her, but from the way her fingers tightened against his shirt, she didn’t believe him. Sighing lightly, he ran a gentle hand over her shoulder, admitting lowly, “I suppose I doubted myself. It wasn’t any fault of yours.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t accept you?” Susan demanded, aghast. She had always had the ability to see through him, straight to the source of the problem. Tilting his head back in vexation, the Doctor bravely searched for the words to make her understand.

“Susan, I’m not who I used to be.”

“I don’t care! You are my grandfather and I would know you anywhere. I would accept you anyway! I _will_ . I _always_ will,” she insisted, cutting off any more of his protests.

“Even if you were to meet my last incarnation? Because he certainly tests my patience,” the Doctor snorted lightly, more ironically than not.

“Well, I’m sure I would love him.”

“I’m not so confident. But…at least _he_ would love _you_ just as much as I do.”

Susan smiled at that, revealing so much pure joy, and then she perked up as she heard several voices calling for her from inside. Half-turning, she moved her grip from the Doctor’s shirt to his hand, weaving their fingers together. “Come join the family, Grandfather,” she urged kindly. “Please?”

After one last moment of hesitation, the Doctor offered an acquiescing nod and a demure smile. “I’d love nothing more.”

**Author's Note:**

> Because the Third Doctor needs friends and family and Susan needs her grandfather, dang it! I think these two would have a really sweet dynamic <3
> 
> I hope you liked it! Drop a comment and tell me what you thought!


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